My first effort at this was about two years ago when I blogged about Amontillado and Idiazabal which is truly a great match. Today, we take up the next example, a salad of fennel, mushrooms and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese matched with fino sherry.
First, the salad. You will need a medium fennel bulb, 1/2 lb. of mushrooms, salt, pepper, excellent olive oil, a hunk of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, a mandolin, and a vegetable peeler. (Optional is a knit kevlar glove to keep your fingers and other soft tissue out of the mandolin).
Use the mandolin to slice the fennel and mushrooms into slices about 3/32-inch thick. Build the salad in layers in a roomy bowl, first a layer of fennel, season with salt and pepper, and drizzle with olive oil. Next a layer of mushrooms, salt, pepper, and olive oil. Continue until you are out of vegetables. Finish by shaving the Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese on top with the vegetable peeler.
Now the sherry. I matched the salad with a Puerto Fino sherry, which is a pale, delicate, very dry, crisp and tangy wine. Puerto is one of the coolest sherry producing areas, and the resulting wine is higher in acidity than is common for other sherries. Well chilled, the wine goes great with the salad, especially the olive oil, cutting through the fat and highlighting the flavors. This is a lunch that is hard to top. Use a good grade of Spanish olive oil and pretend you are in Spain. If you ignore the Parmigiano-Reggiano, it won't be difficult.
Paul:
My favorite food with sherry is Snapper Soup; they go together like PB&J (yeah, I'm a real bon vivant).
Coincidentally I had a crock of it last night at Lehman's Tavern in Essington, PA, not far from Philadelphia International airport, just off of I-95. It was great!
I'm guessing that Snapper Soup is a regional specialty as I don't think I've ever had it outside of the Philly area, I'm pretty sure it was a signature dish at Old Bookbinders and you can still get it in a can in supermarkets hereabouts. It seems to be getting harder and harder to find, though. Maybe that's because sea turtles are an endangered species, but I believe some recipes substitute lean stewing beef for turtle meat without noticeable effect as most folks don't know the difference, including me.
Another Philadelphia soup favorite is Pepper Pot, originally made with tripe and peppercorns and, according to legend, originally served to Washington's troops at Valley Forge in the absence of anything else to eat. Campbell's used to make it, but I haven't seen it on the shelf for a long time . . .